A constraint satisfaction network model simulated cognitive dissonance data from the insufficient justification and free choice paradigms. The networks captured the psychological regularities in both paradigms. In the case of finee choice, the model fit the human data better than did cognitive dissonance theory.

The consonance constraint satisfaction model, recently used to simulate the major paradigms of cognitive dissonance theory, is extended to deal with emotional arousal phenomena in dissonance. The impact of arousing drugs is implemented in the simulations by a scalar that modulates the intensity of unit activations representing the relevant cognitions and the connection weights representing their implications. The simulations show that even exotic dissonance phenomena can be explained in terms of the relatively commn process of constraint satisfaction.

The consonance constraint-satisfaction model is applied to Machiavellianism self-concept effects in cognitive dissonance. Networks parameterized for low Machiavellian traits showed the usual dissonance effect, i. e., more attitude change after giving a counterattitudinal speech than after not giving such a speech, whereas networks parameterized for high Machiavellian traits showed the reverse, thus capturing human data. Classical dissonance theory had not accounted for the fact that people with high Machiavellian traits showed less attitude change after giving a counter-attitudinal speech than after not giving such a speech. The model predicts initial dissonance and the course of dissonance reduction in the various experimental conditions. The results underscore the point that cognitive dissonance operates according to the same constraint-satisfaction principles that govern a variety of other psychological phenomena.